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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619088">The Invitation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/majimarkjin/pseuds/majimarkjin'>majimarkjin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hand and Glove [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Bruce Wayne Needs Help, Bruce Wayne Needs a Break, Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Minor Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Panic Attacks, Protective Dick Grayson, Supportive Alfred Pennyworth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:36:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27619088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/majimarkjin/pseuds/majimarkjin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been years since Bruce and Clark broke up, but one of them still cannot let go.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alfred Pennyworth &amp; Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson &amp; Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hand and Glove [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Invitation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW // panic attack, anxiety attack</p><p>PSA: Please read at your own risk. If there is even a slight possibility of triggering something in yourself, please don't read it. Every story in this series can be read as stand alone anyway. Just skip this one. It's fine. Your condition, your health is much more important. Please stop reading NOW. </p><p>For those who still wanted to read, it's not really graphic, but I just want to make sure that everyone is putting their health first.</p><p>That's all. Please read carefully.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a usual day in Gotham, the sky in different shades of gray. Bruce was inside the safety of his home, but he was restless, like always.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>He turned away his sight from the large window and got a hold of his glass, drinking his scotch in one gulp as if it was tequila shot. He stared at the invitation in his hand.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em> <b>You are cordially invited to witness and share hope and love at the wedding ceremony of Clark Joseph Kent and Lois Joanne Lane–</b> </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He slammed it down, rattling the table along with some objects on top of it. His heart started palpitating, he felt like it was about to burst—about to break. The sound of his glass shattering did not even reach his ears as his knees failed him, his body falling half on the top of his chair and half on the floor. He felt like his throat was closing up and he could not breathe—like someone cut his lifeline and he was finally at the end of his journey—and he tried to gasp for air, but he choked on it instead. Tears fell from his eyes and his ears were ringing, making his head hurt. His heart hurt<em>—His whole fucking chest hurt </em>like it never did before.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Bruce's vision was starting to get filled with black spots and he was barely conscious when the door opened, a loud banging sound drowned the sound of gasps for a second. It was Dick and Alfred, their eyes landing on the mess and the man.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“Oh, god– Bruce!” Dick exclaimed, running towards his father and placing an arm around his body to move him onto the leather couch a few steps from the right side of the table.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>“I can't–” Bruce sobbed, thrashing in his son's arms<em>.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>His training kicked in unconsciously as he hit Dick in the solar plexus,—<em>goddamn it</em><em>!</em>—the young man losing his hold on him when the wind got knocked out of his body.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Bruce would have fallen down, his legs still weak, if it was not for Alfred who caught him and made sure his arms were securely tucked first before guiding him down the couch. It was a struggle and Alfred hoped it never happened again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dick, who had recovered from the unexpected attack, got a hold of a light tranquilizer found in the medicine cabinet that each of the room had. They seldom resorted in using one, but it was a dire situation they were in and they were all trained on how to use it for the same, exact reason. Bruce could hurt anyone, especially himself. They couldn't take the risk. Injecting the tranquilizer directly in Bruce's jugular vein proved to be quite a challenge since the trained man would not stop thrashing. Fortunately, after giving the shot a few minutes later, the drug started to work and Bruce slowly stopped struggling and started to fall asleep.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It was never that bad before, but Dick knew Clark became Bruce's light in his dark, lonely life before all of the kids, even him, arrived. The fallout was devastating, not just to both parties, but to everyone else too. It took the two <em>months</em> before they were able to work together again, but they became a better duo than before. Everyone thought that Bruce was getting better too. However, unlike Clark, Bruce never knew how to let go of the past—he never learned how to let Clark go.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Dick shared a look with Alfred. Being a part of Bruce's family was not easy, but it was worth it. Bruce had always been the one looking out for them, even when they felt the opposite. Dick looked up to him. He never wanted to be Batman, sure, but he always wanted to become Bruce Wayne. People always thought that he never took care of himself or anyone else, but Dick knew better.</p>
  <p>He saw Bruce leaving for health appointments, watched him drink his prescribed medicines on time, exercised daily and ate proper meals not just for running around rooftops and gargoyles but to maintain a healthy lifestyle too. It was rare for the man to not take care of himself. How would he be able to protect the city if he was unhealthy?</p>
  <p>Bruce also checked up on them every now and then, making sure they were healthy in every aspect, always lending an ear or a shoulder when one of them needed it, and brought take outs and spent some nights in their own places to simply bond with them. Dick knew their father loved them and it showed more in what he did than in what he said, and that was alright. Bruce Wayne had always been a man of action anyway.</p>
</div><p>As Dick watched Bruce sleep, a sense of profound conviction rested deep in his core. He would always be there for his father through ups and downs, like the old man did for all of them. Always.</p><p>So, it was okay. They would be fine. Bruce would be fine. Their old man had all of them, just like all of them had him. Because that was what they were—a family. And family would always be there with and for you through everything.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let me tell you a few things first.</p><p>1. I'm not sure what should be the rating of this one, so I put Explicit due to the short depiction of a panic attack. Please, please!! Read carefully. I'm not sure what triggers your anxiety or panic attack since it's different for everyone so please be careful.</p><p>2. As I've said, an attack can be different for everyone so this may be different than what you've read, watched, heard, seen, and/or experienced. Like for me, I have anxiety and what triggered it the most recently was the often usage of webcam for online classes. I experienced shortness of breath, chest pains, ringing in my ears and crying.</p><p>3. So I wrote this when I was extremely down for no apparent reason, as usual, and I thought that maybe I could raise awareness or write something that can help other people know that there are times that us, people who have a mental illness or disorder or issue, can be highly functional for one moment and then be triggered another moment later. I'm not sure if I wrote it well enough, but I hope that in using Bruce Wayne, who is known as Batman and the World's Greatest Detective, as someone who has mental issues, it will help you realize that even the most functional or best person you've ever known could be suffering from mental health issues. I'm not saying for you to do what Dick did in this because that's for doctors to do, but like in Dick's thoughts, I hope that you'll support and help your loved ones if they ever suffered from an attack. Be there for them. Educate yourselves on how to help. It would mean a lot.</p><p>4. Remember: having a mental illness or disorder does not make your worth any less. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay if you're feeling down sometimes. Just don't forget that you are important in this world. You are loved by the creatures of this planet. You are cherished by many people. </p><p>You are you and that means more than anything in this world.</p><p>Anyway, I hope you're all okay.  And please correct me if I ever said something wrong or did something along those lines.</p><p>Also, if you ever want to talk, you can message me on Tumblr (bluestnightwing.tumblr.com) or on Twitter (@bluestnightwing).</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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